


The Kids are Alright

by otterboy



Category: Tokyo Ghoul, tokyo ghoul re:
Genre: Everybody Lives, Happy AU, M/M, Really cute, abuse in the past, haise isn't abusive, kids are ghouls in this, previous neglect, some of the ghoul's parents just suck, the quinx are children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2018-04-12 20:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4494501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otterboy/pseuds/otterboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haise seems to have one thing in common with his father. He has a soft spot for kids. That is awakened in him as he finds a small girl within an alley. He takes her home but then realizes she has nowhere to go. Quickly then he realizes...</p>
<p>This is a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is an au my friend and I came up with one late night and it ended up being really cute. We ended up writing this together, but since she's a weenie she doesn't have a AO3. So for now we call her bun. Thank you for writing this with me friend.uwu

Rain pelted the top of Haise’s head and he gave a tiny groan as he brought up his hoodie. He hated the rain; it always made him ache in a way. He really should have listened to his father when he told him to bring an umbrella. He couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but then again he never really learned how to swim, so maybe it had to do with his horrible fear of water. He picked up his foot and rolled up the baggy pant leg, nose lightly crinkling in distaste as he did. Ugh...he hated when the rain did that. He yanked the hood forward and trembled, catching something out of the corner of his eye. Was that...a girl? He caught a hint of blue hair and he couldn’t help but be curious. Turning the corner, he saw her. A little girl, who couldn't have been older than five,wrapped in a white blanket. Her eyes were downcast and he felt his heart ache. The poor thing...he quickly rounded the alley corner after looking both ways. He peered down at the small child and felt his heart go out to her. Tiny...she was so tiny. Who left her out here? He waved to her, figuring it might be best to make communication with her before touching her or doing anything of that sort. He and his father had always fostered sick or injured dogs, so he figured that this wouldn’t be different.

“Hello there,” he quietly chimed. The girl looked up at him with mismatched eyes and blinked. Her tiny, chubby fingers curled and grasped around the air as she waved.

“Hel...lo,” she muttered as if the words were strange on her tongue. Haise lightly offered her a hand and she gripped firmly, like a small koala. Well then, she liked him a lot, even if she had just met him.

“Up...up,” she mumbled. His heart ached and he couldn’t deny that he wanted to pick her up. Haise lifted up the child and wrapped his arms around her. She was warm, despite being in the rain for God-knows-how-long.

Haise looked down at her and smiled. A warm feeling crept in his stomach, the same type of feeling he got when he saw a puppy. Cute, that’s was she was. He wanted to take her home, at least for the night. His dad hopefully wouldn’t mind too much; he could probably sneak her on the couch and take her home in the morning. Yeah, that’s what he’d do.

With the girl curled up in his arms, he made his way home. She grabbed on to his shirt and toyed with the buttons. She hummed, eyes widening as she saw the shiny object on his chest, and gave a tiny gasp.

“Pretty,” she chirped, grabbing it lightly, gingerly.

“Yeah? That’s a centipede. It’s a kind of bug.”

She nodded and pressed her face to his collarbone and dozed off. He smiled. The way home was short and quick, and he was grateful for that. He lightly opened the door. It was late, but he was sure his dad wasn’t home yet. He entered the house and gently placed the girl on the couch. She curled back up in a koala-like way as soon as her back touched the cushions and he couldn’t help but voice a small “Aww.”

Letting her go would be hard. He knew it would be. It wasn’t like the small sick animals; this was a child. Maybe it was just because it was late and his mind wasn’t acting right, but he didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t even know her name, but he wanted to keep her. He shook his head. Someone was probably out there who missed her immensely and was worried sick about their daughter. It was sad thought, but highly likely. Part of Haise wondered if she didn’t have a home to go to. He paused in unzipping his hoodie and stared down at the small girl. He hoped that wasn’t the case. He slowly hung up his hoodie and grabbed a warmer blanket, wrapping her in it. She complied happily, only whining for him to hold her again as he sat on the couch, lightly flicking through the channels. He finally settled on a documentary show because he knew that he wasn’t going to be sleeping in his bedroom. He felt his eyes slowly start to fall heavy, his breath slowing.

And then the door opened. More like it was flung open in a spurt of anger. Haise was wide awake.

His father’s gaze was not a happy one. Eyes were narrowed dangerously. ”What’s that in your arms?”

Haise wanted to scream, ”Well..”

“There is no 'well,' I’ve dealt with enough dishonest people today,” he spat,throwing off his coat with an extreme vigor that made Haise wriggle uncomfortably. Arima walked over to the edge of the white couch and death-gripped it, glaring down at the bundle in Haise's arms. Haise gulped and stared up at his father's adam’s apple.

“You brought home a child.”

“Well..”

“A child. You picked up a child, from the streets, and brought her home.”

“Y-yes. I saw her on the way home and well…”

“You took her in. Haise...you know she could have a family. You have picked up a stranger’s child.”

“I couldn’t leave her there. It was raining and she could’ve gotten sick, and it’s just for the night.”

And just like that Arima’s resolve was broken. He sighed and pulled himself up into a standing position ruffling his son's hair. Haise liked to think that he wasn’t spoiled, but despite his reputation, Arima gave in easily and Haise usually got what he wanted. Just like that, he was in his white shirt and rolling up his sleeves.

   ”Have you eaten yet?”

“No,” came Haise’s dreamy voice. They usually had dinner late.

“Do you think your little friend would want any?” Arima asks. Haise smiles.

“Maybe when she wakes up, she passed out as soon as we got here.”

“Well, she was out in the rain, so I imagine that she would be.”

Haise thought for a moment and nodded; the poor girl must have been starving. He lightly tapped the girl on the shoulder, trying to wake her up, and she responded with a soft snore.

“I guess she would be more tired than hungry,” he said quietly to himself. He would feel bad if he interrupted her sleep; she seemed so peaceful as she was now. “We can give her food in the morning,” he said to his father.

   Arima nodded slowly, lightly working in the kitchen. He seemed to be making chicken, from what Haise could tell. He felt a small yawn escape him. Arima cooking late was nothing strange and Haise would usually fall asleep waiting and eat in the morning. Somehow, this time he managed to make the food and serve it before that.

“I cheated and reheated some; eat up,” Arima said with a low grunt, setting some in front of Haise with a quiet clatter. He placed a fork and knife next to him, digging into his own food.

Haise struggled a little to find the right words, "Dad...uhm...”

Arima got up and left the table for a moment before lightly wrapping his arms around the girl and pulling her out, gently laying her on the couch. He nodded to Haise before eating. It was mostly silence and clinking of forks and chewing. Arima rose and ruffled Haise's hair, walking over to the kitchen. This was how their nights were usually spent, eating in silence before heading to bed.

“See you in the morning,” Arima muttered.

“Yeah..love you, dad.”

   His father paused, smiling over his shoulder, ”...I love you as well.”

Morning came more quickly than Haise anticipated. With a new day, it meant that he would have to take the little girl home. Rubbing his eyes, he got up and made his way to the living room, where, to his surprise, the girl was still sleeping. He could see her small, chubby form much clearer in the daylight as opposed to the light from the ceiling fan. He quietly walked over to her and gently shook her.

“Hey, please, wake up.”

The child squirmed a bit before lazily opening her eyes. He wasn’t mistaken that they were mismatched; her right eye was the same shade of blue as her hair, albeit a little darker, and her left eye was red. That was strange and it caused him to jump a little. Red eyes had always been unnerving to him. His father had mentioned the creatures he investigated having those eyes. It never really sat well with him when he saw them. She shifted her gaze to the man with the two-toned hair and yawned. She cocked her head in curiosity. Well, with a face like that, he really couldn’t be unnerved by her.

“Who was that guy with the deep voice? He smelled funny,” she bluntly asked.

That caught him by surprise. Not even a good morning; he wanted to laugh. Of all the things to say when you wake up in a stranger's house, she decided to ask about his father. “Ah..my dad.”

She nodded and sat up, shaking her head and making her hair puff out. She cocked her head.

”Why is it so stinky in here?” her red eye glowing as she rubbed at it, “It hurts my tummy.”

Stinky? That was a strange comment. He tried to think of an answer, but something about her reminded him of the creatures that his father investigated.

”I’m not sure...I never did get your name though.”

“Saiko Yonebayashi,” she yawned, bored.

“It’s nice to meet you Saiko; my name is Haise,” he said with a smile.

“H-h...Hai- can I call you maman? You’re like a mommy and it’s easier to say that than...H-” her face scrunched out as she mouthed out the words. How was'maman' easier to say than his name? He chuckled.

“Haise. You...you can call me maman, if you want. That’s French, right?”

Saiko nodded and looked around from where she was seated, sniffing around the living room. She poked at Haise's laptop while her nose scrunched up.

“Why do humans eat such nasty stuff? How do you stand it? It smells like rotten leather.." Her voice trailed off as she grabbed the laptop. Her chubby fingers curled around it and she looked to him for permission. He gave a quick nod. It was an older one, so it should be fine.

Human. His eyebrows crinkled at the way that she mentioned him being human as if she weren’t. Then it hit him.

He’d taken home a ghoul.

______________________________________________________________________

The hardest part about this would be that Haise would need to figure out how to tell his father that he’d brought home a ghoul. Scratch that, the hardest part would be trying to keep his cool.  He stared at Saiko with a worried expression, but she seemed to be oblivious. Her fingers moved slowly across the keyboard as she tried to search for something. He cleared his throat and she turned to him, eyes narrowed.

“What?” she questioned.

“Do you uh...have any parents to go home to?”

She shook her head. “Not really.”

Well that explained a lot. Haise didn’t want to pry, but he couldn’t help but wonder what Saiko had meant. Sure she was young, but she seemed to be the type who meant what they said. And the words “not really”it made his stomach flip uncomfortably, she shouldn’t have had to say that.

He bit his lip nervously in fear of what his father would say in response to her...staying. He hoped that it would work out, but then again, there was the glaring issue of her being a ghoul. A baby ghoul, but a ghoul nonetheless. He looked to his father, who was getting dressed for work, with almost pleading eyes. Almost trying to telepathically beg him to keep her.  Arima paused and stared at him, nearly automatically giving in. He nodded to him and ruffled his hair, smiling down at him. Haise was almost shocked at how easily his father gave in to him. He would have to ask him why later.

Saiko continued to play with the computer and kick her legs. Arima cleared his throat and she looked up curiously. She wondered if it ran in the family, the strange sound that they made with their throat that is..

"Yes, Dad?” Haise asked in response to the noise.

"I'll be leaving," he murmured. He ruffled Haise's hair one last time before exiting. Haise waved fondly and then stared worriedly back at Saiko. Just what was he going to do? Hell...where was she going to sleep? What if she got hungry? He slowly stood up and made his way to his bedroom, pacing. Should he ask her questions? Would that be too rude? He contemplated many outcomes in his head. He sighed and rubbed at his face. Well, maybe he should ask her questions...

Haise heard the pitter-patter of small feet against the floorboards . He watched as Saiko curled her head around the side of his leg. She looked..unimpressed. Or was that her usual face?

"I'm bored," she said, yawning.

"Uh..what do you wanna do?" he questions. She shrugs.

“Well, would you like to talk for a little bit, since you’ll be staying here for a while?" “You never really asked me if I wanted to stay.”She blinks a moment before nodding, "Sounds fair to me."

He freezes, but she answers again,”I do wanna stay though...”

Haise smiled at her, “Alright, if you don’t mind me asking, why were you out in the rain last night?”

She flopped on the floor, right in the hallway. He paused a moment before joining her, albeit more gracefully. She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go. Mommy, um…” she trailed off, looking down at the floor.

"Your Mommy wasn't really there?" he hesitated as he spoke. He didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings.

She nodded.

"She didn't..want me." Her voice was quiet, much like a whisper.

His fists clenched. Why leave her at such a young age? He sighed and looked to the side. "I'll make sure something like that doesn't happen again."

She blinked in surprise, before nodding, playing with the fluff of her jacket.

“Thank you, Maman."

\-----------------------------------------

The rest of the talk went pretty easily. Saiko really opened up when Haise had asked about her hobbies, which mostly included watching TV and playing on the computer. Besides that, she mostly just slept. He had mostly avoided asking about the whole being-a-ghoul thing. He figured it'd be for the best. She seemed wise enough to know what that entailed. For the most part, he had really connected with her.

On Saiko's end, she had mostly just had asked about his lifestyle. What he does in his spare time, what he wants to be when he grows up, his favorite color, basic kid questions. He could handle those. She was sweet about it. What he found adorable was her curiosity when it came to food. It had a weird childish charm to it that would be awkward if anyone else had asked about it. She poked at a tomato, brows crinkling.

"It looks weird - ew, it feels weird too; what the heck do you even use it for?" She fails her hand messily; she had accidentally poked through the skin.

"Eeeewwww!" she yelled and Haise struggled not to laugh as he helped her wash her hands.

"Tomatoes usually go into other dishes, like sandwiches and salads."

"Why do people put so many gross things together?"

"It's just what they like."

Saiko nodded, unconvinced, and walked back over to the couch, her eyes fixated on the TV. She yawned and rubbed her red eye.

"Maman, I'm sleepy."

He gave a tiny nod and asked, ”Do you wanna watch television before you go to sleep?”

“Mmhmm.”

She curled up on the couch and gave another yawn. Haise chuckled and flicked on the television, moving it to some sort of cartoon as he wriggled back on to the couch with his phone. Before he knew it, he heard soft snores coming from the girl beside him. He smiled softly to himself. His fingers moved over his phone as he listened to the other sleep.

It was about an hour later that he realized her breaths were hitched and slightly shallow. Startled, Haise turned to see Saiko, who had been peacefully asleep until now, shaking and scratching at the couch in her sleep. Haise quietly looked over at the sleeping girl, peering over to her sleeping figure. He gently brushed hair out of her face and could see tears running down her cheeks. He reached for her, hesitating, and lightly shook her. Saiko shuddered before sitting up. She rubbed her eye and slowly inched closer to him, her sobs a lot more prominent. He quietly stretched out his arms and she jumped into them with a sort of desperation. The ghoul choked on her sobs and nuzzled into his chest. He rubbed at the back of her head soothingly and she continued to sob until he cooed out a song that his father taught him, letting the words slip past his lips in a slow and gentle requiem. She seemed to sink into his arms.

“Please don’t go.” her voice was difficult to hear over her sobs. Haise continued to rub the back of her head as she cried into his arms.

He whispered softly, "I'm not leaving."

Saiko looked up at him and softly smiled. Her one red eye was surrounded by a black sclera. ‘Right she’s a ghoul.’ He smiled weakly, slightly unnerved by the singular kakugan. It was strange to look at because, from his understanding, both eyes were supposed to do that. Could it be possible that she was only half of the species? He bit his lip. This was dangerous.

Saiko rubbed her eye again as she shuffled her way into Haise’s lap and hugged him. He pet her head and nuzzled against her. Ghoul or not, he couldn’t deny that she needed love. Just from her going home with him, basically calling him her mother, and begging him not to leave, he could tell that whatever Saiko had left, she didn’t need to return to it. He would do everything in his power to make her feel safe. He didn't want her to ever have to say, "Don’t leave me," again.

He took a chance.

"You're safe with me..."

**  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haise has to struggle to figure out just where exactly this child came from, and how he can keep her safe. Filled with soul rotting cuteness!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry this is extremely late, me and my writing buddy have stumped, lazy, and caught up in the whirlwind known as _school_. Seriously, fuck the American education system. We're suffering. _Save us_. A big thank you to FourGemLions (idk if you capitalize it or not) for being our loyal beta and making sure we get shit done. We could have posted this earlier but, ey, perfection is pretty important. We worked out some plot holes, and if you have any questions with genetics, go to my writing buddies tumblr: crystallightbutterfly. She has many a theory and will be able to thoroughly explain it. Tokyo Ghoul isn't my main fandom, and I haven't gone too in depth with theories of biology, so, definitely go to her. 
> 
> Once more, please to enjoy.

Haise knew that taking care of a child would be more than a challenge. He also knew that his father would have little to no interest in keeping the child in the house, and there's was also the more than major problem concerning her diet. The more he thought about keeping her, the more he felt like a kidnapper. As much as he would really like to watch over her and keep her safe, it might be best for him to reach out for a biological guardian. Perhaps she was just lost. That happened to children a lot, did it not? He’d read about it, so there had to be a possibility of that being the case. He sighed and rested his fingers on the bridge of his nose, eyes narrowed in thought. From what Saiko said, she didn’t have much of a family to speak of. At all. He scratched his cheek. Where could he find such information?

She could be lying, however; she was a child, and sometimes children liked to blow things sort of...out of proportion. Dramatize things. He knew he liked to do things such as that when he was younger. However, that caused him to wonder just why she would lie about that. The answer probably was that she was not lying. Part of him wished she was.

Saiko looked up at him from the floor which she was lying on, ”Your face looks funny, Maman. You look like you just smelled something nasty.”

She crawled over to him and brought her hands up towards him. Unable to reach well enough, she settled for patting Haise’s face and squishing his cheeks together.

He laughed.

“Be happy Maman,” she crooned, brows furrowing. He smiled back at her.

“I already am; don’t worry, Saiko-chan,”  he said, rubbing the top of her head.

Saiko gave him a lazy smile and made her way over to the couch, where she curled up, tired. He couldn’t help but wonder why she felt the need to sleep so much; for the most part he had seen her more often asleep than awake. It may have been because she was a growing child, but he wondered whether ghoul children needed to sleep more than humans. While it was cute, it made it difficult for him to find solutions to his many problems concerning her. He stood and walked over to the hall closet, carefully turning the doorknob and taking Saiko's coat off of its hanger. He sighed as he ran his fingers through the fur of the sleeves; it was oversized. He wondered if it was her mother's. He gently reached into one of the pockets and felt around, curious.

His eyes widened as he felt a stack of business cards. Hesitantly, he pulled one out. He stared down at the name. Perhaps he could give her a call? But what would he say? ‘Hi, I have your child and I want to keep her?’ Now that definitely sounded like something a kidnapper would say. He looked at the business card again. Just call her. Tell her that Saiko’s safe and go from there. He nodded to himself and pulled his phone from his pocket.

His fingers quickly worked over the buttons and he sat through a few rings before a raspy voice answered, “Yes?”

He faltered awkwardly, ”U-uhm...is this the mother of Saiko Yonebayashi? I’ve found your child and-”

There was sigh from the other line, ”That’d be me.”

“I’ve called let you know that your child is at my house. She claims that she has nowhere to go and, considering how small children seem to like to...exaggerate things, I was wondering if you had been missing her.”

There’s another long sad sigh on the other end of the line and Haise waits.

The woman's voice breaks a bit, ”Yeah..she has someone...but...”

“But?”

“I can't take her back. I’m not...cut out for her. I brought her into this world by accident. The condom broke and I didn’t find out what she was until...”

He blinks as he hears her voice tremble behind the line. His brows crinkle together, going upwards in a worried fashion.

“She took a bite out of my shoulder. I said my love for her was unconditional, but...I think I lied.”

Haise inhales sharply and he gently cuts in, ”There’s no need for you to tell me more, miss; I understand.”

“Do you...have a place for her to stay?”

Even though she can't see it, Haise nods, "I do."

There is a long pause and finally the woman says, "Thank you," her tone indecipherable.

There was beeping at the end of the line. It took him a moment to let all of her words sink in. It all made sense, in a horrible way.  He looked over to the girl, her face relaxed and at peace. No one won on either side The poor girl - he wondered what would have caused her to snap like that. Perhaps she had been so starved that it caused her to behave like a cornered animal? He shook his head at those thoughts. No, he would think about those things later. Right now, he needed to contact his father. He winced. He knew exactly how his father felt about ghouls. He worked with an organization whose main objective was to exterminate them. If he could phrase it in such a way that convinces Arima that adopting a ghoul would be an asset to him, then possibly he would let him keep her. The real question now was how would it be beneficial to Arima? The only thing he could come up with was the fact that raising a ghoul would allow Arima to study its behaviour up close, which in turn would surely provide the CCG with useful information.

Even if that sounded good on paper, there was so much more to it than that. His father was a man of many thoughts, many morals - ones that couldn’t be easily changed or altered. He was brought up with a simple philosophy - ghouls were bad and humans were good...but that didn’t mean that Arima had always fully abided by that. For now, Haise just needed to hope for the best. 

❥❥❥❥❥❥

It was about two o’clock later that day when Saiko awoke again. Haise made sure to stay in the same room as her, so she wouldn’t cry out like she had last time. He didn’t quite remember. He gently flipped through the pages of a cookbook before he felt a chubby hand grab at his pant leg. He looked down, smiling and pushing up his glasses.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?” She asked, still half asleep.

He grins, ”I’m reading a cookbook. Humans have to cook their food to make it taste good, so I’m looking up new ways to do that. We use different seasoning and sauces.”

She tilted her head in interest and her eyes widened.

“You can make that gross stuff taste good?” she cooed.

“I don’t think you can eat the seasoning and sauces; they’ll probably make you feel even sicker if you try,” he replied rather reluctantly.

Saiko's expression deflated a little bit, and Haise felt sorry for her. He couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like to be unable to eat. He gave her a soft smile, lifted her up, and set her back down on the counter. She swung her little legs and demanded, ”What’s that thing you get the seasonings and stuff from called?”

“This? It’s a book. There are other kinds of books too, not just cookbooks.”

“Do those books help humans make stuff too?”

He stifled a small laugh, “Not exactly; most books tell stories, like love stories, or adventures, or really anything. They’re like television, but with words. Does that make sense?"

“Kind of, so it’s like those papers with mini stories, but with more of them, right?”

“You mean a work book? Like the one with the educational stuff?”

 

Yeah, that’s an example of one.”

She nods, swinging her legs. The room falls into silence and then she looks at Haise with half-lidded eyes, then smiles brightly at him.

“Thank you Maman."

“For what?” Haise asks, eyebrows raised in confusion.

“Staying with me.”

Haise only smiles.

❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥

When Arima came home, there was an awkward and tired silence that filled the room. One that Haise never thought he’d get over. His father was an intense person and he managed to affect everyone in the room with his presence. Haise could feel his tension and irritation - his father was tired. Haise looked up from the dishes and sheepishly smiled. Arima gave a nod before settling down on one of the chairs and letting out a long sigh. He pushed up his glasses on his face and rubbed his eyes. He was starting to feel old, much older than he actually was. Haise braced himself for the worst.

Somehow his father knew what he was thinking without actually knowing.

”Any news on the child?”

Haise looked to him and bit at his lip,”Ah, yes. I got in contact with her mother.”

“And she said?” Arima asked.

Haise pursed his lips. How was he going to phrase this? Hell, how did Arima even know what he was thinking and why was he asking so soon? Haise hated that about him.

He swallowed, “Well, uh...it’s hard to explain.”

“Spit it out, Haise.”

“She did confirm that Saiko really has no other place to go.”

“Haise. I don't have the patience to listen to your stalling. Tell me what she said, word for word.”

“She’s part ghoul," Haise admits, unable to look him in the eye.

“Yes, Haise," Arima said, exasperated, "but what was the sob story that followed?"

Haise was taken aback. His father knew. Not only did he know, but he didn't seem to care about that detail. Work really must have been grinding at his gears.

 

He took a deep breath and continued, “Her mom is human and didn’t know how to raise her; she didn’t even know Saiko was a ghoul until she was bitten by her. I told her I had a place for her. I promised.”

That earned a long, drawn-out sigh from Arima. He lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes, trying to keep his composure. Haise could see the cogs in his brain turning. Arima wasn’t a man who liked to question his morals. In his eyes, there was a black and a white; he hated grey areas and often got very angry when something wouldn’t fit into either square. Haise stared up at the ceiling as he waited for Arima to say something. Risking a glance at him, Haise saw that Arima had squeezed his eyes shut and was pinching the bridge of his nose between a thumb and forefinger. Haise almost gave a triumphant grin, because he knew that when his father did that, he was giving in. He would give into him keeping a child.

“I don’t know what to say,” he murmured.

“So is that a yes?”

"It's a yes," Arima said, his expression unreadable.

Haise’s eyes widened and this time he couldn't keep the grin off his face.

"T-thank you."

“I will handle the details regarding the issue of her...food. I don't guarantee anything. There’s a lot concerning her such as the adoption progress and...she’s not a pet.”

“I’m...aware father.”

“A lot of this will be discussed in the morning, and much later, however, I’m far too-”

“Tired?”

“Yes.”

“Then go rest, I’ll take care of Saiko.”

”Will you make dinner?"

Haise smiles, “Of course.”

Arima stands and walks over to Haise, ruffling his hair before disappearing upstairs in his bedroom. Haise quickly got to work before remembering that Saiko had been sleeping on the couch...again. Should he wake her up? He probably should - it's that or make her coffee so she has some sort of sustenance for later. He went with the latter.

He busied himself around the kitchen, figuring that his father would want something quick and easy for now. Usually he would have gone out of his way in order to make something pleasing for his father, it was late, and as his father had mentioned, he was tired. He moved over to the freezer and worked to make something quickly all the while making coffee for Saiko. He decided that it would be best to work with a microwave meal, pulling one out of the freezer with a firm nod. As it was  warming up, he prepared the coffee and remembered to leave it black.

With freshly brewed coffee in hand, he approached Saiko’s sleeping form and gave her a soft nudge.

“Hey, I brought you something.”

Saiko stirred in her sleep before opening her eyes. She subtly sniffed the air and stood up with an excited look on her face.

“What’s that? It smells good,” she asked.

“It’s coffee; I hear that ghouls can drink it. I think it might make you feel better.”

She perked up at his words and grabbed at the cup in his hands.She grinned excitedly, blowing at it to cool it down. She paused a moment before taking a sip. “I remember this! A girl with blue hair gave me some once!

”

Haise stares a moment before smiling. He doesn’t really completely understand what to say to that.

”I’m glad you like it. You wait here, I’ll be right back.”

With that, he rises and makes his way to his father’s room, peering around the corner before entering with the microwaved pasta. Arima takes it gratefully with a nod and this time Haise is the one to ruffle his hair. As he makes his way over to the couch, he feels himself grow more and more tired. Childcare wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be, he went to go push some food into his mouth, only to feel too tired to. He rose again, walked over to the fridge and slid it on to a shelf. Perhaps he would watch some television and then he would be hungry?He flopped back on the couch and leaned back, trying to focus on the television before it blurred into a mess of colors, and then faded into nothing.

He could have sworn he felt the warmth of a blanket on him, and a teeny giggle from the little girl that had stolen his heart.

He decided, he couldn’t be happier.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you ask, yes, Saiko's father was a ghoul. Touka is the purple haired girl at the coffee shop. There will be many a more character, and all the Quinx will make their way through here. Please note, future readers, that the manga was not finished at this time. We don't know half of which is going on. Bun, sadly, came up with a sound theory, only to have it smashed by chapter 43, so...do not pin that against us, we're working on everything, okay? A lot is vague but, we promise we have most of it worked out and we are ready for implementing as such later on in the writing. These chapters have been extremely rough for us, but from now on out we will _hopefully_ be updating every three to four weeks on the weekends. If we happen to get it out late, our apologies Also to note, I myself, one of the writers, is working on three other AU's at once. I'm a busy person. If you want more updates, follow our tumblrs. 
> 
> Mine: alfonslifelesseyes
> 
> Bun: crystallightbutterfly (her ask box is lonely, go poke her)
> 
> Once more, thank you for being loyal to our slow and rather silly AU.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this came out a bit later than three weeks, we have both been either busy with school or sick, or both in my case. We have been brainstorming and a hell of a lot of work went into this chapter. We stayed up late pouring what we could into this. As of note Akira and the twins will be formally introduced soon. We had a different Beta this time so thank you to ghoulishcentipede (tumblr) .

It'd been a few months and Saiko had gotten even more settled in than before. She seemed more comfortable and in her element, and was actually now slowly more awake than asleep. Haise had turned one of the guest rooms into a makeshift bedroom, got new clothes for her and child proofed the majority of the house. All in all, it looked more like a kid had lived there instead of just sleeping on the couch. Sure, adoption had been hard, there was many a struggle with Arima and the legal terms, and the fact that Haise wasn’t of legal age to adopt children, having Arima technically the legal guardian. But they managed. There were many rules and regulations on how to keep the child, and they had to completely omit the fact that she was a ghoul, but he supposed it worked well enough.

He had to wonder about school though, perhaps he could enroll her in another year?

Haise shakes his head and gently wrings out the the wash cloth. He’s about to dunk his arms into the hot water before a teeny pair of hands come in and gently take a handful of bubbles. She’s gone two seconds later, bubbles supposedly in her hands, and Haise is left smiling. He continues to gently work his hands across the plates and soap until he hears a loud ring. Which is strange, he hardly has anyone on his phone, and he doesn't have a clue who the hell would be calling this late. He dries his hands on his pants and reaches for the phone. He squints at the picture that shows up on his lockscreen and he grins softly. It was his father.

“Haise.”

“Yes, Dad? Is everything alright?”

“Just wanted to let you know that I might have a guest coming home with me tonight,and that I will be late.”

“A guest? As in a co worker?” he pipes in, suddenly curious. His father wasn’t a social man.

“No.” he answers.

A laugh,“Then what do you mean by guest?”

He seems frustrated, grunting as if he’s holding something rather heavy and shifting it,“There’s no need for you to prepare anything. Just, have the door unlocked,okay?”

The strain in his voice causes him to pause, and his father almost butts in to see if he's there, but he breathes out his answer,“Oh, alright then, I’ll see you soon. Goodnight.”

There’s an affirmative grunt at the end of the line before he hung up. Saiko came back into the living room, her hands now wet from where the bubbles were, she grinned up at him rather cheekily. Haise smiled back.

“And just where did the bubbles go?”

“I blew them out the window. They looked cool in the wind.” she proudly states holding out her damp hands at him.

“I wish I could’ve seen them.” he looked to the kitchen clock 9:00pm “Saiko-chan, can you wash up and get ready for bed? It’s getting pretty late.”

“But I’m not tired, Maman.” the blue haired girl protested.

“Maybe not now, but after I read you a story, you’ll be tired.”

“Can you read the one about the bunnies?”

“Whatever you want.” he murmurs with a fond smile,”Whatever you want.”

❥❥❥❥❥

Saiko shifted herself in her sleep, rubbing at her nose gently. There was a strange smell that had flooded the house, and it wouldn’t stop bugging her. She grunted, allowing her eyes to slide open. She needed to investigate. She followed her nose to a room she usually wouldn’t go into and opened the door. There was a person sitting on the bed, that was strange. Maman didn’t usually let other people into the house. She blinked a bit, saying the first thing that came to her mind, “You smell weird, what are you doing here?”

“Umm..well..” the funny smelling person said.

”You’re quiet. I like you.”

There’s a tiny laugh.

“Your hair is suuuper cool,” Saiko chides.

“I like yours better, it looks soft and the color’s pretty.”

“Really?!”

The shout echoed noisily across the wooden floors, and Haise found his eyes opening. The sun wasn’t even up, and when he heard the loud voices, he couldn’t help but turn to his clock confusedly.

3:00 AM

He groaned lowly and swung his body around in bed, feet slapping against the ground. He both hated and loved being a parent. This was one of the very moments that he hated it. He groaned and hoisted himself up, fluffy and messy hair shifting as he did. He thumbed himself up in the mirror and chuckled, then paused. Right, time to go find Saiko.

He was searching around the house for her, half expecting for her to be on the couch in the living room, but instead found the door to Akira’s room propped open and the light in her room on. Part of him thought that his mother just wanted to crash at their house, as that was what the room was prepared for, but then remembered it was 3:00am and that Akira would usually inform them if she was staying the night beforehand. He poked his head around the corner to find that there was a another person besides Saiko. He assumed that this was the guest that his father was talking about. The child was small and even slimmer than Saiko. He couldn’t really pinpoint what it was about the child that seemed off. His eyes traveled across their fear stricken face looking puzzled until his eyes made way to the right side of his face. He was met with a glaring, black and red eye. He weakly smiled.

“Hello,” he murmured with the cock of his head.

Their hand popped up to cover their right eye and they turned their head in shame. His smile left his face. Well, that was a certainly different reaction than what Saiko had. He supposed that this child could have been different. Not every human was the same, so it would be rude to generalize.

He clears the scratchiness out of his voice and chuckles good naturedly, “Don’t be scared, no one’s going to hurt you.”

“Shouldn’t you be scared?” the child says, voice trembling.

“Why would I be?”

They pause for a good while then respond,“Because I’m a ghoul, and aren’t humans scared of ghouls?”

“Nah, I’m a ghoul and maman isn’t scared of me. I think it’s if you choose to be scary,” Saiko noisily cuts in. The child visibly flinched, and Saiko blinked, almost apologetically.

“You’re a little scary right now,” they murmur very quietly.

“What? How?”

“You’re kinda loud.”

Saiko drops her voice to a whisper, which really isn’t that quieter, but it's more palatable on the ears,”Sorry. I forget it’s night time.”

There’s some shifting from the front door, and everyone turns. Haise stares at the bag in his hands and figures that his father was out on one of his food runs, seeing as how he hardly had time for a lunch break at the CCG, he must have been starving. He looked exhausted, glasses shoved up on his head for the moment being, that suggested that he’d gotten them broken and was borrowing Akria’s reading glasses for the time being. This fight seemed to have taken a toll on Arima. Seeing as how he hadn’t seen him look this exhausted...or squinty in a while.

After everyone’s done staring, Arima slowly shuts the door behind himself and makes his way over to the scene that is taking place in Akria’s bedroom. The two blabber and bicker amongst themselves, Saiko loudly asking whatever she really pleases and the child quietly answering.

Haise cuts in, ”What’s your name?”

“Her--”

“He said his name was Tooru.” Saiko answered for the child. Tooru nodded slowly, hair bouncing up and down as he did.

Haise turns to his father, watching as he looks genuinely confused,  shifting the bag of food to the other hand so he can grab something from his pocket. His father always seemed to keep little details in his notebook he’d gotten him for whatever reason. He seems to locate it, furiously looking down at the pad in his hands. The details that were scribbled down. Arima blinks a little, vaguely remembering that the document on the two of the ghouls said that they were both females. Haise, however, cuts in and looks at him, shaking his head. He gently tugs him away from the two children who are conversing.

“On document it sai-”

“Just because that’s what it said, doesn’t mean that’s how he feels.”

It clicks for Arima.

“Oh.”

❥❥❥❥❥❥❥

After a while the two of them managed to get the children back in bed, Haise was a little shocked that it didn’t take longer for his father to understand. Then again, Arima wasn’t thick headed either. He remembers his father apologizing to Tooru almost instantly after and ruffling his hair, telling him he was a rather handsome little boy. It reminded him a little bit of himself when he was younger, and a certain someone who caused him to smile ever so slightly.

 

“What’s got you smiling? It’s early,” his father chides.

“I was just thinking about the twins,” Haise replies, going to set himself on the couch with a relieved gasp leaving his mouth. Arima joins him not too far away.

“Why?”

“Saiko and Tooru remind me of them. Just the way they play off each other.”

Arima gives an airy snort and he leans back, Haise looks to him.

“You look like an old man.”

“I am an old man.”

“That’s not true.”

“I’m getting old.” Haise gave an airy laugh.

“I guess I can agree with that. Where did you find Tooru anyways? Like...he was the guest, right?”

There’s a sigh and Arima sits up ,”We were called in because there was a reported spotting of a ghoul with a human child, this Ghoul has been under the radar for some time now but had apparently targeted a whole family. One of the survivors of the family got a full shot of her and little Tooru, and they thought that Tooru was a human child..Alas he wasn’t. The CCG wanted to either keep him to give information or kill him. I’m doing what I can to keep either situation from happening. Rest assured I’m not going to kill him.”

“Saiko’s changed you, “ Haise murmurs, ”I’m glad that you’re keeping that from happening...”

Arima nods,”I guess I saw that we could raise Saiko as a human, so...I decided we could try it with him. It was either that or he lived in Cochlea his entire life. I couldn’t see him being happy there. I’m sure this is what her wants too.”

Haise pauses a moment but manages to bring himself to a nod not really pleased with how blunt he was being with this whole thing, so he decides to change the subject,“The fight looks like it was taxing.”

“It was.”

“Did you get hit?”

“Surprisingly? Yes. She broke my glasses.”

“She must have been strong then, yeah?”

It was a grunt of acknowledgement before Haise turned to the clock, blinking a bit, then back to his father. He looked as if he were to fall asleep sitting up. His eyes drifted shut before Haise rather violently cleared his throat, causing the elder man to start He looked to him, bewildered.

“You should eat before you sleep, Dad,” he murmurs. The elder nods and opens the bag, ruffling about it. Haise only smiles.

❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥

Haise had managed to get his father to take the day off and stay in bed after he ate, he himself managed to get a few more hours of sleep. The sleep was broken by the sound of barefeet slapping on tile and a small giggle from Saiko. He groaned and pushed himself up, watching as she tugged the Tooru by his wrist. She has managed to find him a pair of overalls and a plain white shirt, and he looked extremely comfortable within such. Tooru was right behind Saiko, and seeming to be looking at the house in what Haise could only describe as wonder.

“Good morning Maman!” Saiko greeted when the pair reached the kitchen.

“Good morning Saiko-chan,” he stifled a yawn “and you too Tooru-kun.”

Tooru seemed to beam at the suffix ‘kun’. He waved shyly, slowly hiding behind Saiko with a rather sheepish expression,”Hi,” he murmured. Haise smiled at him before joining them in the kitchen and pulling out some coffee beans. “Ah, do you like coffee, I can make you some.”

Tooru nods a bit and Saiko stares at him,”You never introduced yourself, Maman.”

“I didn’t?”

“No.”

Haise let out a nasally laugh, rubbing the back of his neck in a sort of embarrassed motion,”I’m sorry, I’m Haise Sasaki. You can call me whatever you’d like.”

“Um, alright. It’s nice to meet you Sasaki-san.” He says politely, and gives a weak smile that’s all too familiar. “I’m...Tooru Mutsuki.”

“Nice to meet you, Tooru-kun. I hope we can make you feel welcome.” Tooru’s smile widened a bit, and Haise could almost see the child absorb the warmth from his voice.

 

A shy smile made way to Tooru’s  face and he could see that he was missing a tooth. He was really quite adorable.

Saiko excitedly gasped,”Do you like toy cars Tooru-kun?”

He blinked,”Yeah..”

“Lemme show you maman’s collection!” she sputtered excitedly, tugging on Tooru's wrist, yanking  him, he followed her with an airy giggle, both of them ending up on the floor in front of the plastic bin of cars and other toys that he’d kept when he was little, there was come clanking and shifting from the others as they messed around with what they could. Of course, Haise decided to watch them, to see if he could figure out if there was anything that he could figure out about him. He noticed that the boy was rather timid with the cars, and instead of playing with them, he seemed to like to inspect them, see what they looked like underneath, He was observant he noticed. He turned away from the two and made his way over to the kitchen, fingers moving over the coffee machine as he went through the makes of the coffee. As he did he heard a few groggy footsteps.

“Haise.”

“Yes?”

“Saiko might be getting a brother.”

Haise stares at him a bit before grabbing his sleeve, and pulling him away from the  children. He looks up at his father with wide eyes, ”Brother? Are you kidding?”

“Tooru is quite literally the CCG’s. I’ve told you this.”

His voice shakes, angrily at that, “You speak as if he’s a dog!”

His father’s face is rather blank, but if he could just get a glance of his eyes, he would be able to understand just what he’s feeling. After a brief moment of silence he mumbles,“That’s all he is to them.”

He worriedly looks at the boy, his brows furrowing, thinking. He had noticed that his right eye hadn’t changed since the night prior. It partially unnerved him, but mostly concerned him.

Didn’t ghouls eyes do that when they were hungry, or maybe he still had his guard up? Saiko’s usually acted up when she was upset, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Maybe he couldn't control it? If that were the cause, he couldn’t pass it off as natural. Unlike Saiko, people would be more fearful of a kakugan as opposed to just a red eye. He had to do something.  He tapped his chin in thought, suddenly gaining inspiration from his cousin. His lips curled up into a smile that completely spells mischief.

“Saiko-chan, Tooru-kun, we’ll be going out later. I need to get some things.”  he said curtly, and the sharpness of his voice caused the two of them to look up. Saiko’s eyes lit up and Tooru seemed to sink into the ground. He seemed to be thinking of the same problem.  What to do? He thought. After a couple moments of pondering, he had an answer. “Saiko do you have an extra jacket that Tooru can use for now?” Saiko perked up and nodded excitedly, quickly scurrying to her room.

Tooru looked up at Haise and cocked his head in confusion. Saiko came running back with her jacket and shoving them at him. She blinks at Haise innocently, and he smiles back at her. He motions for him to come closer, and Tooru does. Haise gently wraps him up in the hoodie and pulls the hood over his face. He then looks to Arima, who looks a little puzzled.

“An eyepatch.”

Arima blinks a moment then nods,”Do you need the car?”

Haise nods and the elder ruffles through his pocket and he hurls his keys at the other with a grunt. He catches them rather easily and motions for the two of them to follow. Saiko pouts a bit.

“‘Later’ doesn’t mean now maman.”

“It does to me.”

She let out a tiny groan.

❥❥❥❥❥

They came back a little while later, much to Saiko’s dismay, as she wanted to stop at the game store. The hoodie worked for the time being, a couple people asked why Tooru kept his head down while wearing a hood, and Saiko stepped in saying “He got a bad haircut.” All in all, it was a success as they had gotten a box of medical eyepatches, along with some clothes and extra things for Tooru.

The little boy looked at the eyepatches curiously, cocking his head.

“Umm...what are these for?”

Haise gently made way to the couch and tapped the cushion, causing Tooru to lightly clamber up the couch with his little hands. He kicks his legs and finally rights himself, hoodie falling off of his face. He looks to the elder male who gently cradles his face and pulls the eyepatch over his eye and rights it over his ear. He blinks a bit. “This is to keep you safe. Don't leave the house without it and carry a spare in your backpack, or your pocket okay? We...we can get you a better one later on. For now, this is the best we can do. Alright?"

 He nods with a smile, and Haise pulls him into a gentle hug. He swears that he’ll do his best to make sure that Tooru’s life is only smooth sailing from here on out.


End file.
